Rose Festival organizers said Wednesday their event pours more than $75 million into Portland’s economy each year.

“For a small nonprofit with a $4 million budget this is a significant return of dollars into the local economy” group leaders told the Portland City Council during Wednesday’s meeting.

The report is based on an economic impact study performed by the Boise, Idaho-based International Festivals & Events Association. It follows last month’s decision to refund city water customers some $1.6 million that was spent renovating the old McCall’s restaurant building into a new Rose Festival Foundation headquarters building.

Commissioner Randy Leonard, who stridently defended the Bureau’s Rose Festival building expenditure, said the study sheds a good light on the city.

“The Rose Festival is an integral part of what Portland is,” Leonard said in a statement. “From locating them in their beautiful building on Portland’s front porch to bringing new and exciting events to the city, I have not enjoyed anything more in 10 years on the City Council than working with the Rose Festival Foundation.”

The study hints that a large percentage of Rose Festival attendees lives outside of Portland. The event will celebrate its 107th anniversary next year.

The research grant, Providence Cancer Center’s third from the Komen group, will be used to investigate combination therapies for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. Dr. Keith Bahjat will serve as the principal investigator along with Dr. Jessica Shugart.

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